THE MATCHUP
The Leopards are back on the road to take on rival Lehigh for the third time this season. Lehigh enters the contest at 16-13 (11-7 PL) following a loss at Boston U. (59-56). Lehigh is led by first team All-Patriot League sophomore Keith Higgins Jr., who is averaging 14.9 points per game. The Mountain Hawks rank first in the Patriot League in opponent three-point percentage, Â surrendering only 32.2% from beyond the arc.
SEASON MEETINGS
Lehigh captured the last meeting in a nail biter, 66-64 on Feb. 4 in Easton, Pa. Freshman
Josh Rivera led all scorers with 23 points. Rivera also managed four assists and hauled in nine rebounds. The Mountain Hawks earned the victory in the first contest of the season as well, 61-49 in Bethlehem, Pa. on Jan. 21. Sophomore
TJ Berger led the Leopards with 14 points.Â
1,000 POINTS
Senior
Leo O'Boyle is closing in on 1,000 points as a Leopard with 981 career points. He will need to score at least 19 points in this game to reach the grand plateau. O'Boyle would become the 48th Leopard to score 1,000 career points at Lafayette.
ALL-PATRIOT LEAGUE HONORS
Sophomore
CJ Fulton and freshman
Josh Rivera earned recognition from the Patriot League on Monday, as the men's basketball post-season honors were announced. Fulton was named to the All-Patriot League Third Team after averaging 10.4 points, 5.1 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game. His 2.8 assist/turnover ratio tops the league and ranks 25th nationally.Â
Rivera  earned All-Rookie Team status after totaling 291 points and two double-doubles while starting 19 games in his freshman campaign. He ended the regular season averaging 10 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game.
SOLO SENIOR
Just one senior is rostered for Lafayette in
Leo O'Boyle, who plays a versatile role as a big body and a shooter. Â O'Boyle netted a career-high 24 points against Bucknell on Jan. 9 and has scored in double figures during 17 games. Against Loyola Md. on Jan. 25, O'Boyle netted 18 points during a 62-46 Lafayette victory. He leads the Leopards in scoring at 11.3 points per game.
FINDING THE FRESHMAN
Freshman forward
Josh Rivera netted a career-high 27 points at American on Jan. 18. On Jan 28. at Colgate, Rivera recorded his first career double-double with 25 points and 10 rebounds. Against Army on Jan. 1, Rivera managed 16 points and six rebounds. During the second game of the season against St. John's, he scored a then career-high 17 points, secured five rebounds and managed two blocks. Rivera is averaging 12.5 points per game in conference play.Â
He earned Patriot League Rookie of The Week honors on Jan. 30 after his performances against Colgate and Loyola Md. Against Lehigh on Feb. 4, Rivera almost recorded his second career double-double, finishing with 23 points and nine rebounds. Against Holy Cross (Feb. 6), Rivera scored 25 points and grabbed five rebounds. At Loyola on Feb. 15, Rivera netted 19 points and hauled in nine rebounds. Rivera recorded his second career double-double on Feb. 18 at Army, scoring 12 points and securing a career-high 13 rebounds. Last time out, Rivera netted 21 points during the loss to Bucknell.
SHOOTERS SHOOT
Lafayette ranks 14th in the country in three-point attempts per game at 26.8. Four different Leopards have attempted more than 100 shots from beyond the arc. Sophomore guard
TJ Berger leads the Leopards with 183 three-point shot attempts. Senior
Leo O'Boyle, (162) sophomore
CJ Fulton (148) and junior
Kyle Jenkins (106) round out the top four.
SHUFFLING STARTERS
The Leopards have used 15 different starting lineups throughout this season.
Mike Jordan and his staff have shuffled through nine different starters, but had used the same starting five for 14 consecutive games before
CJ Fulton was held out of the starting five due to injury.
FAMILIAR FOES
Lafayette has played 484 games against current Patriot League members. In League play, Lafayette is 205-279 in the regular season and 23-28 in the Patriot League Tournament.
DOMINATING DEFENSE
Lafayette has held four different opponents to 50 points or fewer this season: CCSU (50), Navy (50), Holy Cross (48) and Loyola Md. (46). The Leopards took home victories in all four of those games. The last time a Lafayette team held four or more opponents to 50 or fewer points was during the 2003-04 season.Â
The Leopards currently rank first in the Patriot League in scoring defense, allowing only 64.9 points per game.
BLOCK PARTY
Junior forward
Kyle Jenkins registered four blocks in an overtime win versus Bucknell on Jan. 8. That marked the second consecutive game that a Lafayette player recorded at least four blocks. At Boston University on Jan. 5 sophomore
Justin Vander Baan recorded four blocks in a 73-69 overtime loss, and two blocks in a 62-48 victory over Holy Cross on Jan. 14. He also managed three blocks against Lehigh. Jenkins managed two more blocks in the victory at Navy on Jan. 11. Freshman
Josh Rivera registered four blocks against Loyola Md. on Jan. 15 and two more blocks out at Colgate. On Feb. 22 against Colgate, Vander Baan recorded two more blocks for the Leopards.Â
The Leopards currently rank third in the Patriot League in blocked shots with 92 on the year, averaging 2.97 per game.
OFFENSIVE EXPLOSION
The Leopards scored a season-high 90 points in their victory against La Salle on Dec. 21. The Maroon and White had four players score in double figures in
CJ Fulton (20),
Leo O'Boyle (13),
Josh Rivera (12) and
TJ Berger (10). The Leopards shot 61.5% from the field and 57.7% from beyond the arc.
NEED SOME ASSISTANCE?
Sophomore guard
CJ Fulton is second in the Patriot League in assists at 5.1 per game. In 29 games, the Belfast, Ireland native has dished out 147 assists.Â
MAJOR MINUTES
CJ Fulton rarely comes off the floor, averaging a Patriot League best 36.5 minutes per game. In the overtime loss to Penn, Fulton played 42 minutes, scoring 12 points to go along with seven assists and seven rebounds. Against UMBC, Fulton registered 39 minutes on the court. The Belfast, Ireland native also clocked 40 minutes versus St. Joseph's, where he totaled five steals.Â
Teammate
Kyle Jenkins sits behind him in seventh with 32.1 minutes per game.
KNOCKING DOWN THE THREE BALL
The Leopards are averaging 8.8 threes per game this season, ranking them first in the Patriot League. Leading the team in three-pointers made are senior
Leo O'Boyle (65), sophomore
CJ Fulton (57) and sophomore
TJ Berger (53).
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